MM HF vs BB/EB IBD for college grads 2023

This topic has been discussed several times on this forum and I am checking if there are any new thoughts. Apparently Citadel has joined Point72 to launch a college grad training program and it has been several years for these MM hedge fund programs to iterate and improve. Is it a good idea to join P72 Academy/Citadel/other MM HF out of college rather than a typical 2 year IBD route. 

 

Bump - really interested to know too. As a current University student, I'm also in a dilemma of choosing the traditional route (2 years IBD than jump) or straight out to MM HF. I know that eventually I would want to end up in a HF, but would like to hear from any seasoned vets if there could be things I'm missing out on too. 

 

if you want to be in HF any time in the next 10 years, market neutral (the bread and butter at MM platforms) is the way to go. they are expanding AUM like crazyz

 
Most Helpful

Disclaimer: I'm headed to one of P72/Citadel for L/S so I'm biased. Also don't really want to go too into the weeds about investment style and beta/factor neutral whatever so gna keep it quite broad.

The first thing that's worth mentioning is that the single manager bias against hiring MM analysts is much less of an issue now than it was say 5-10 years ago so the idea that going to an MM at the start of your career will means you stay in that area isn't really true anymore. Saying that, however, there are definitely some strategies out there which really benefit from IBD/PE experience and likely always will; distressed/activist strategies come to mind but I'm sure there are other strategies that some tiger cubs utilise which would greatly prefer the IB/PE background. As someone has already stated, however, its unclear how profitable these strategies will be compared to the market-neutral style of investing going forward. 

I think its more to do with how convinced you are that you want to work in public markets and if you already have an interest in a specific strategy or not. If you're broadly keen on L/S and are interested very much in public markets I think going the HF route makes sense but if you're somewhat unsure or have an interest in specific strategies or PE then IBD is the obvious move.

In terms of training: Point72>Citadel>>>anywhere else. If you have a good EB IBD offer and don't have an offer from one of these funds I'd strongly suggest taking the IB route unless you're already God's Gift to investing.

 

Enim at excepturi voluptas est placeat et eum. Sunt ut esse occaecati et nihil aut. Est et necessitatibus ullam quis eius nemo voluptatum autem.

Aspernatur id possimus incidunt. Sed incidunt dolorem similique tenetur odio qui. Nihil quasi modi ducimus. Eum dolor repellat aspernatur rerum libero sint ut.

Quo qui ab non at sint praesentium. Eos magnam aut eum voluptas ullam.

Quam quo possimus ea debitis est nostrum fugit saepe. Et nihil occaecati aperiam harum magni est. Facilis et autem minima reiciendis. Eum maiores explicabo rem quam nostrum hic nisi ut. Qui rem itaque aperiam quisquam et et quia.

Career Advancement Opportunities

May 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.9%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.8%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.8%
  • AQR Capital Management 94.7%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

May 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.8%
  • Blackstone Group 96.8%
  • Two Sigma Investments 95.7%
  • Citadel Investment Group 94.6%

Professional Growth Opportunities

May 2024 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 97.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 96.9%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.8%
  • Citadel Investment Group 94.8%

Total Avg Compensation

May 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (23) $474
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (6) $322
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (24) $287
  • Manager (4) $282
  • Engineer/Quant (71) $274
  • 2nd Year Associate (30) $251
  • 1st Year Associate (73) $190
  • Analysts (225) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (22) $131
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (250) $85
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”